Other dimensions

24 September 2022 – 26 February 2023

How can art nourish the sensation of other dimensions apart from the world we know? Is it possible for art to give access to a curious speculation about that which we do not know for certain, that which we can only catch a glimpse of?

This exhibition brings together and stages work by a large number of leading artists, e.g. Jeppe Hein, Stine Deja, Balder Olrik, Sofie Bird Møller, Ferdinand Ahm Krag and Rui Chafes. Works that from the outset seem to be widely different are installed into a spatial flow with a dim, almost theatrical, lighting that enters into the sensory apparatus and enforces the sensation of exactly that; stepping into another dimension.

In Ferdinand Ahm Krag’s pictorial universe you are sent on a journey as part of which you are constantly fluctuating between observing a micro and a macro world, i.e., between looking inwards and contemplating the outside world. It is difficult to find a fixed viewing angle in order to obtain an overview. In his works, different perspectives are mixed, so that that which at one moment seems to be a distant globe in the next moment becomes a glance into strange and otherwise invisible substances in an enlarged petri dish.

Jeppe Hein’s globe, the sphere-shaped neon work No Presence, on the surface is easy to relate to, attention-demanding as it is with its bright and intensive colours. However, as is characteristic of Hein, the spectator plays a central role in the work – as soon as you step closer, the lights are out. This absurd and incomprehensible rejection is a hint at our craving for meaning, and at how sudden openings into an understanding of the world’s phenomena may quickly close again.

Something similar happens in the meeting with the photographic works by Balder Olrik. They depict seemingly recognizable but deserted places. That which attracts special attention, however, is the monochrome areas of mottled grey that have been inserted into the picture. Like dead spots of low information value, they suck up the energy; but at the same time, they activate our perceptive skills – maybe they are hiding something, maybe they are not …

In this fashion, all the works of the exhibition contribute to a sense of how something must be eluding our conclusive understanding. Thus we are encouraged to take a stand on that which might otherwise escape our complete cognition.

With this exhibition, we take the opportunity to show other dimensions of the museum’s renowned collection, including new acquisitions never displayed before.

Participating artists: Jeppe Hein, Rui Chafes, Eric A Frandsen, Sofie Bird Møller, Eric Andersen, Tomas Lahoda, Peter Nansen Scherfig, J.A. Jerichau, Sonja Ferlov Mancoba, Ferdinand Ahm Krag, Mads Gamdrup, Olav Christopher Jenssen, Michael Kvium, Tomas Saraceno, Thomas Bang, Skeel & Skriver, Gina Czarnecki, Peter Zimmermann, Nina Saunders, Randi & Katrine, Balder Olrik, Anita Jørgensen, Wilhelm Freddie, Thorbjørn Lausten, Finn Reinbothe, Mark Dion, Jørgen Haugen Sørensen, Stine Deja, Erik Ortvad, Svend Wiig Hansen, Frodo Mikkelsen, Ejler Bille, Egon Fischer.